A neighborhood may be a geographically localized community in a larger city, town, and/or suburb. Residents of the neighborhood may refer to each other as neighbors, although this term may also be used across much larger distances in rural areas. In theory, the neighborhood may be small enough that the neighbors may be able to know each other by walking and/or driving a short distance (e.g., 5 miles) around their place of residence and/or their place of work. However, in practice, the neighbors may not know one another very well (e.g., because of busy schedules, fenced communities, lack of effort, a lack of time, etc.).
The neighborhood may be given a designated status through a neighborhood association, a neighborhood watch group, a political group, a homeowners association, and/or a tenant association. These groups may help in matters such as lawn care and fence height, and they may provide such services as block parties, neighborhood parks, children activities, special interest groups, and/or community security. However, getting messages out to residents of the neighborhood may require expensive direct mail, and/or time consuming door to door meetings with residents of the neighborhood.
A neighborhood watch (e.g., a crime watch, a block watch, a neighborhood crime watch, etc.) may be an organization of active residents devoted to crime and/or vandalism prevention in the neighborhood. Members of the neighborhood watch may stay alert of unusual activity, behaviors, and/or crime in the neighborhood. However, most residents may not be active participants of the neighborhood association (e.g., because of a lack of time), and may be unaware of safety, security, and/or prevention issues in their immediate area.
For example, in many American communities, while a few active residents know a lot of their neighbors, there are far more residents who do not even know what professions, interests, and reputations are of their immediate next-door neighbors. As a result, friendships among neighbors don't form as often, neighbors have more difficult time asking other neighbors for help, safety in the neighborhood suffers, quality of life is impacted, and a sense of community is diminishing.
Safety and privacy of users may be of concern in the neighborhood because online security and privacy may play major roles in preventing serious incidents such as identity theft, online predation, and/or unwarranted release of private information.